Alpha Force: Untouchable Part 5

Amber held up her phone. As Li listened to the number she punched it in on the mobile. Then Amber took over and called the vet.

'Hi, we've got an emergency a dog has been bitten by an adder.'

Paulo didn't like the look of the dog's face. It was starting to swell, the flesh starting to balloon off the narrow skull. The dog's mouth was open, the tongue hanging out in a pink curl.

'Right. Thanks,' said Amber. She cut the call. 'Tiff, give me the map. There's a vet visiting the hunting lodge just down here. His receptionist is warning him we're on our way.'

Never taking her eyes off the dog, Tiff pulled the map case over her head and gave it to Amber.

Paulo scooped up the dog in his arms and staggered to his feet. He was a substantial weight, like a twenty-kilo sack of horse feed.

Amber inspected the map. 'Should be five minutes' walk.'

Paulo hoped five minutes wouldn't be too long. The dog was making a rasping noise as he breathed. That meant his airway was swelling already. Paulo set off at a run. The whole group followed, but Tiff and the couple slowed to a walk after twenty seconds, gasping.

Amber, still jogging alongside Li, turned round to call back to them, 'Meet us there. Glaickvullin Lodge.' And she sprinted on ahead of Paulo.

It was a single-track road, a straightforward route, but uphill. The dog was heavy and Paulo's biceps were soon on fire, but one look at the swollen head and the look of trust in the dog's brown eyes gave him the strength to go on. Maybe they could flag down a lift if a car came.

The dog's breathing was becoming more ragged. Paulo didn't know the exact effect of adder venom, but he knew one thing: as the dog's breathing got louder, his airway was getting smaller. Soon he would suffocate.

Moments later Amber came back, waving her arms like a semaph.o.r.e messenger. 'It's just around this corner,' she called.

Paulo's thighs and biceps were burning, but Amber's news gave him the determination he needed. He put on a final spurt and was rewarded with a fairytale apparition: a nineteenth-century baronial castle looking out over a wide expanse of green pasture. Glaickvullin Lodge.

But Paulo didn't have time to take in the sights. He saw a drive leading off the road, around the side of the building.

Amber sprinted away, came back and beckoned. 'Follow the drive round the back,' she yelled. 'There's a yard with agricultural buildings.'

Paulo's feet crunched on fine gravel, slipped, but on he went. He pa.s.sed a red Land Rover and glimpsed boxes of drugs and dressings in the back. Veterinary equipment. Then a man in a green surgical-looking coat rushed towards him, his arms out. Paulo handed Pip over, then bent over double, recovering. Li came alongside him and rubbed his back while Amber went with the vet in case he had any questions. Were they in time?

The vet put Pip gently on the ground and shone a pen torch in his eyes and mouth. 'Are you the owners?' he asked. In his top pocket were two syringes. He discharged one after the other into the dog's neck. He was well prepared.

'No, they'll be here any minute,' said Amber. Paulo and Li joined her, Paulo still breathing hard.

The vet felt Pip's face carefully. 'Do you know where the bite is?'

'We didn't see it,' said Li. 'He went off into a bush and-'

'Here it is,' said the vet. His fingers framed two garnets of blood on the side of the dog's jaw. A double puncture mark.

Li was looking towards the drive. 'Here are the owners,' she said and waved at the three figures approaching.

For the first time the friends noticed their surroundings. The place smelled comforting, of grain and farmyards. Two men wearing green tweeds were steadily sweeping the concrete yard. They must be gamekeepers; Alpha Force had seen a number of them out on the moors during the previous week.

Pip's owners rushed up to the vet. 'How is he?' panted the woman.

The vet got to his feet. 'He's stable for now but I need to take him into the clinic and put him on a drip.'

The woman gasped. Her husband put his arm around her. 'There is an antidote, isn't there?'

Tiff watched with big, horrified eyes.

The vet went to the back of his Land Rover and threw the discarded syringes in a special container. 'The poison isn't the problem. It's the swelling and the possibility of infection. Plus he's in shock. But you got him here just in time. Have you got a car here?'

The man shook his head. 'No, we were out walking. We're staying at the B&B in the village.'

'I'll take him in my Land Rover.' He looked at the group. 'But I can only take two pa.s.sengers.'

Tiff stepped back from the couple. 'I'm not with them. I was just helping.'

The vet called to a gamekeeper, who was walking past with a broom. 'Rob, do you have an old feed sack I can put him on?'

The gamekeeper nodded. 'No problem.' He went off into a long outbuilding with a row of open doors. Just beyond were high fences of wire netting.

Now that the emergency was over Paulo had time to be curious. 'What animals do they have here?'

'Those pens are for pheasants,' replied the vet. 'They breed them for release at the start of the shooting season. They've got a few Highland cattle in pastures further up the moor.'

Amber and Li were more interested in the lodge itself. It was magnificent. Fawn-coloured stone walls topped with crenellations, square towers at each end, a small hexagonal folly rising out of the far tower with a flagpole on top.

'Nice place,' said Amber.

'Very nice,' agreed the vet. He lowered his voice. 'Very exclusive. Eight hundred quid a night. Keep your eyes open and you'll see some A-list celebrities.'

Well, thought Paulo, that might explain why that other gamekeeper over there has stopped sweeping and is staring at us. He must be checking us out to see if we're famous. Paulo gave him a wave. The man didn't respond, but stole a glance at them from time to time as he swept.

Rob came back and handed a large flattened cardboard box to the vet, who opened the Land Rover and spread it on the back seat. Then he suddenly noticed a label on the box. 'Rob, where did you get this?' He held out the cardboard flap so that the gamekeeper could see the label.

Rob read it out: 'Ketamine.' He sounded unfamiliar with the word. He looked at the vet. 'Pesticides aren't my department.'

The vet shook his head. 'It's not a pesticide. You have to get it from a vet.'

Rob shrugged. 'You're the only vet we've had up here.'

'Your bosses haven't been getting veterinary drugs from somewhere else, have they?'

Rob shook his head. 'No, I don't think so.'

'Well, don't,' said the vet. 'They may be cheap but they're illegally imported and sometimes they don't even contain the drug you think you're buying.' Then he noticed the expectant faces around him. 'Sorry, lecture over. Let's get the dog in.'

Paulo realized that the second gamekeeper was still watching them. Still not quite sure, eh? he thought. Who do I look like? Enrique Iglesias?

Hex and Alex strode up the drive just as Pip's owners were putting the dog gently into the Land Rover. Hex had been tracking the other party on his palmtop.

Paulo went up to Alex. 'You look a lot better than you did this morning.'

Alex nodded. 'All I needed was a good run.'

Hex peered at the prostrate dog in the back of the Land Rover. The vet was making final checks on his pulse and breathing. 'What have you been up to here?'

'A bit of lifesaving,' said Paulo. 'All part of the entertainment for our guest.'

The vet started to shut the back door, but the flap of the cardboard box was in the way. Rob went over and tried to tear it but it was too tough, so Alex cut it off with his knife.

'Cheers.' The vet shut the door and climbed into the driver's seat; the middle-aged couple got in next to him.

'No problem,' said Alex, and he and Rob stepped away as the Land Rover's V8 engine roared into life.

Across the yard, Alex saw another gamekeeper leaning on a broom and staring at him. That's strange, he thought. Why is he looking at me like that? Then he told himself not to be so paranoid.

Li, Amber and Tiff came over. 'We'd better be going,' said Amber. 'More miles to cover.' They turned and started to walk down the drive.

Alex heard a voice beside him: 'Excuse me.' It was the gamekeeper with the broom. 'I'll take that.'

Alex had forgotten he was holding the piece of cardboard.

'I'm going to make a bonfire,' said the man. He had pale blue eyes and his face was scarred with acne pockmarks and a line like a neat cut on his cheek.

There's definitely something strange about him, thought Alex. He looked at the piece of cardboard, as if sizing it up, then pulled his rucksack off his back. 'If you're going to burn it, can I keep it? My quad bike's got an oil leak and I need to catch the drips.'

'I can get you another,' said the man. His blue eyes took on a steely glint.

Now Alex really was determined to keep the cardboard. 'No, this'll do fine.' He put it away.

The gamekeeper gave Alex a hostile stare and walked off.

As Rob accompanied them to the gate, a green Range Rover swung in from the lane. On the roof were three gutted deer carca.s.ses. The five friends glimpsed shiny long black rifle barrels and tweed jackets. The driver pulled up and four figures got out. Their Highland tweeds were accessorized with funky scarves and swinging earrings.

'Hey, guys,' hissed Li. 'Do you know who that was? That R'n'B star. What's her name?' She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember.

Amber peered over Hex's shoulder. 'Well, whoever it is, green's not her colour.'

'Those people with the pointer should be very grateful to you,' said Rob. 'I had a gun dog which died from an adder bite. I was out on the moors with her; didn't get back quickly enough and she suffocated.'

Paulo was already jogging down the road backwards. 'No problem. Let us know if you get any news about him. We're staying at the hostel.'

'I will,' nodded Rob.

Li and Amber gave Alex and Hex a brief wave, then joined Paulo jogging down the road. Hex and Alex would take Tiff for the afternoon.

'We'd better be getting on too,' said Hex. 'We've got a walk ahead of us.' Tiff gave him a mutinous look, which he ignored.

A thought occurred to Alex. He called to Rob, who was walking back up the drive, 'Does anyone round here hunt at night?'

Rob shook his head. 'No. It's too dangerous to shoot in low visibility.'

Alex frowned. 'Not ever?'

'Not even the gamekeepers do it. Those rifle bullets travel a long way.' He waved to them. 'See you around.' He turned and walked back to the yard.

Alex frowned. If the gamekeepers weren't shooting at night, what were they doing out in the bothy so late?

9.

SUSPICIONS.

Tiff was on the phone. 'It's pants here. The rave was good but I'm fed up now.'

Hex caught a s.n.a.t.c.h of her conversation as he went past her room. 'Not as fed up as we are,' he muttered under his breath and headed down the stairs.

He found the others in the office Alex sitting at the desk, Li perched on top of the filing cabinet, Paulo in one of the easy chairs and Amber crosslegged on the floor with the Ordnance Survey map. They were going to discuss the programme for the next day, but Alex had the piece of cardboard in front of him and was looking at the label.

'Hex, have you heard of ketamine?'

Hex sighed. 'So that's what you were fretting about all the way back.'

'I wasn't fretting, I was thinking,' said Alex.

Amber fixed Hex with a long-suffering expression. 'Hex, for goodness' sake do a search, tell him they use it to clean the silver and then we can get on with some planning.'

Hex had his palmtop switched on, the screen monitoring Tiff's position. So long as she was on the phone they knew where she was. He minimized that website screen and flipped open another to search. Seconds later, he had some results. 'Ketamine. Powerful anaesthetic used mainly on farm animals by vets. Also used by the rave subculture... known as Special K, Ket, Vitamin K or just K. Can cause hallucinations, or loss of co-ordination-'

'Hallucinations?' repeated Alex.

Hex typed a couple more words into the search engine and scanned the results. 'It might be what you were given, but it's not the only thing that causes hallucinations.'

But Alex wouldn't let it go. 'Yet they do have ketamine at the lodge and Amber says the vet didn't prescribe it. Where did they get it?'

Hex's fingers worked again. He read the results. 'It's not illegal to possess it, but its sale and supply are controlled so it's illegal to give it away or sell it.' He looked up. 'They're not breaking any laws by having it.'

Alex still wasn't satisfied. 'What do they use it for? Why would they need to anaesthetize their animals?'

Paulo stepped in. 'You can use some anaesthetics as tranquillizers. It's very handy when you've got a tonne of heifer trying to kill you for treating a cut on her leg.'

Alex thought. 'What about that guy? The other gamekeeper?' He picked up the ketamine label between his thumb and forefinger. 'Did you see the way he looked at me when I wouldn't give this to him?'

Li was starting to get irritated. Surely Alex must realize he was making a mountain out of a molehill? He must still be a bit drugged. She had a point she wanted to make but she was afraid it would make Alex worse.

'That guy was looking at everyone,' said Paulo. 'He thought I was Enrique Iglesias.'

The room erupted in a gale of raucous laughter. Even Alex forgot his preoccupations and clutched the chair, helpless.